Dancing Without You
by Parachutingkitten
Summary: A look into Cole's short time at the Marty Oppenheimer, the friendship he left behind when he left, and what happens once he has to confront it.
1. Chapter 1: Goodbye

"Cole!" I wrapped my arms around him as he entered the practice room. "I haven't seen you since yesterday! How's it going?" I let go of him as his eyes wandered towards mine.

"Um… fine."

I started moving towards the center of the floor, practicing some footwork.

"As much as I've loved preping for this waltz test, I'm pretty excited to move on to our swing dance unit! All the flowy skirts, and improv, and you are going to look so cute in-"

I turned to see him distractedly glancing around the room, his face pensive and lost in the space around him.

"What's wrong? Something's wrong. You're not excited about fun outfits."

He looked at me again, the ghost of a smile creeping onto his face before retreating back into the conflict in his eyes.

"We need to talk."

"Are you okay? Is everything okay?" He walked past me, guiding me over to the window. "Cole, what's going on?"

He sat down on the floor, and I copied him. He crossed his legs, his fingers latching onto the strings of his hoodie as his eyes hid themselves again.

"Cole?" He was silent for a moment before I placed a hand on his knee, trying to bate his eyes back to mine again. "You can tell me."

He looked up, and out the window in front of us. "…I'm leaving tomorrow."

I just looked at him for a minute, just to be sure that the moment was real. "Like…?"

"Yeah." He sighed.

My hand retreated from him as I wrapped my arms around my knees.

He paused for a moment before continuing. "I don't belong here. You know that better than anyone else."

"Yeah…" I sighed.

"I just can't do it anymore. I can't live like this. I can't breathe and eat and emanate this energy 24/7 like you can. It's just a lot, especially with… my mom…"

He looked over at me, finally giving me his eyes for the first time.

"I wasn't going to tell anyone, but you're the only friend I have at this… stupid school. And… I thought you should know."

I brought my arms in closer, biting my tongue before I spoke. "Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know."

"What are you going to do? How are you going to do _anything?!_"

"Lia, I'm-"

"I just-" I brought my hands to my face as I felt my eyes stinging. "I get it if you have to leave but just… make sure you've _really_ thought it through first, and-"

"I have." He cupped my hand in both of his, looking through my eyes.

I took a long, shaky breath before calming down again. He had talked about doing this before. I just never thought he would do it. I thought maybe I would be the one to convince him to stay. But it was always inevitable.

"Cole, you…" My mouth hung open, trying to find the words to describe it. "I… It's just… you mean a lot to me, and I don't want you to make any stupid decisions and end up dead or anything."

"I promise I'll be careful." He nodded. "And I need you to know this has nothing to do with you, okay?"

I felt the tears finally fall as I nodded. "Yeah," I laughed.

"You're the one thing that's making it hard to leave."

I nodded again, the tears continuing to fall. His hands slowly unclasped mine, moving back to his knees.

"And hey, we'll see each other again. I promise, okay?"

"Sure." My eyes sank to the floor, more bitter now than anything else, all the dialogue ringing so familiar to me. I closed my eyes, wanting nothing more to wake up from this awful recurring dream that was somehow my reality.

"… I should probably go."

My teeth grasped my lip, my throat tightening as I listened to him through the darkness.

"Then you should go." I whispered, my eyes still shut.

"Goodbye, Amelia." His voice seemed to echo in the room around me. It bounced around and back into my ears over and over again.

And I could have sworn I felt his lips on my cheek, but when I opened my eyes,

he was gone.

And so, there I sat, on the floor, abandoned for the second time that year.


	2. Chapter 2: Personal Stuff

Spring cleaning was getting to be more of a chore than I remember. It's not until you pile everything you own in the middle of the floor that you notice how much useless stuff you have. I reached under my bed for a long forgotten bin, way at the back, covered in dust. It was a small orange box, with the lid bent and the sides dented. What was this?

I opened the lid to find an assortment of old papers, pictures, and small keepsakes. A few old drawings of mine that I had never finished, the paper noticeably brittle in my hands. Some letters from my dad. My lucky pen! I picked it out of the box, and looked at it for a moment. I grabbed a random paper from out of the box and tried scribbling on the back of it. It still worked! I put the pen aside for future use as I turned my attention to the paper. It had been clumsily folded in fourths a long time ago. I opened it up to find an image I hadn't seen in a while.

I stared at it, growing familiar with the faces that seemed like such a distant memory now. It was a picture of Amelia and me at the_ Freshman Winter Formal_, a mandatory end of semester dance that served as both your final exam, and a fun social with snacks and music. It had been a while since I'd seen myself so dressed up. Since I'd seen _her_.

We both looked so… happy.

"Hey Cole-"

I jumped at the sound of Jay's voice, turning to look at him. "Hey! What's up. What's going on?"

"Something big just came up. Sensei wants us all in the bridge ASAP."

"Right, okay," I sighed.

"What's that?" Jay asked, looking at my hands.

I looked down at the picture, folding it up, and standing before he could get a good look at it. "It's not important. It's just…" We both looked at it, as I still held the folded mess in the air for some reason. "It's personal stuff." I finally shoved it in the pocket of my hoodie, hoping Jay would ignore it.

"Okay, whatever." He rolled his eyes, leaving the room as I followed.

"So, what's all this about?" I asked.

"I have no idea, but Sensei seems pretty stressed about it."

We entered the bridge, the room filled with chatter from the team.

"Are we all here now?" Sensei asked.

Everyone glanced around, not finding any faces missing.

"Alright," He continued. "As some of you may be aware Ultra Violet has somehow made her way out of Kryptarium prison again. But she seems to be working for someone much more ambitious this time. As best as we can tell, whoever she's taking orders from wants Lloyd dead. She's assembling a massive team whose one goal is to make sure he's killed by any means possible."

The room went quiet for a moment as all eyes turned to Lloyd.

"Well, this is a new one," Lloyd started. "Usually the people trying to kill me want something from me first."

"So what's our course of action here?" Nya asked.

Sensei sighed. "With how little information we have now, our one goal is to keep Lloyd safe. I think it would be best to split up, lie low, and try and collect more information. We can not stay here. We can not go anywhere we've taken refuge before. It's just too risky. They'd find us."

"So we need a bunch of spontaneous new hideouts, with convenient proximity to possible villain recruitment… Well that should be easy, shouldn't it?" Jay sighed.

"Three groups would be an ideal number," Sensei expanded. "No staying with family, or anyone whose associated with the ninja in any way before, it would be too easy for the enemy to make those connections. None of us should know of the other group's locations, we've had minds read before. We can't risk giving away Lloyd's position. I have one location in mind, does anyone else have ideas?"

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Kai asked Nya as they eyed each other from across the room.

"Yeah, I think that would work." Nya smiled.

"Nya and I have a place," Kai confirmed.

"Great, anyone else?" Sensei looked around.

As I started racking my brain for ideas, my hands brushed up on the picture in my pocket.

_What about Amelia? _

No. That was crazy. We hadn't talked in years. I had no idea where she lived. She had probably forgotten about me by now anyway. But… she did always say she wanted to live in Ninjago City. It'd be a great place to try and pick up info. The fact that we haven't talked would make finding the location nearly impossible for anyone else. And I knew I could trust her.

"Sensei, I think I have a place."

"Great," Sensei smiled. "Lloyd will be coming with me and… Zane, could you come with us?"

"Of course," Zane nodded.

"Nya and Kai, you take your location, and that leaves Jay and Pixal to go with Cole."

I glanced over at the two of them. It was certainly going to be an interesting trip.

"Leave as soon as possible and… stay safe."

The team broke up as Jay and Pixal followed me out.

"So, where are we going?" Jay asked.

"How about let's get in the room first, shall we?" I turned to look at him, gesturing to my bedroom door ahead of us.

"Oh, excuse me for asking two seconds too early!"

"Excuse me for wanting to keep the information secret!"

"You two better not be like this the whole trip." Pixal brushed past us, opening the door.

We all entered, Jay closing the door with an annoying amount of emphasis behind us.

"I'll ask again, where are we going?"

I pulled the picture from my pocket, carefully unfolding it as the others crowded around me to see what it was.

"We're going wherever she is."

Jay burst out laughing. "Cole, is that you?! I've never seen you dress like that _ever!_"

"Who is she?" Pixal asked.

"Her name's Amelia. She's my old dance partner, from my semester and a half at the Marty Oppenheimer. Always said she was going to move to Ninjago City to be on Broadway as soon as she was done with school. Knowing her, she probably did it. All we have to do is find her address."

"And you're sure you can still trust her?"

I sighed. "At this point, I'm more worried about her trusting me."


	3. Chapter 3: Hello

"We're capping off our week by getting dance partners-"

A collective giddy laugh crossed across the room- mainly from the girls… including me.

"These were assigned by height, so hopefully you'll be able to work well together. Now, on one hand, you're going to be dancing with this person for the rest of the semester, so get to know them, and try to get in a rhythm together. On the other hand, it's only for a semester. So, if you don't gel with your partner, you can always request a switch next semester. Sound fair?"

Nods spread across the room as Mrs. Haley looked down at her clipboard. "Find your partner once I read your names." I could feel excitement starting to get the better of me as she started reading names. The kind that made me roll my feet and tighten my fingers. "Sarah Avery and Trevor Littleton." A whole semester with one person! And through the week I had seen a lot of great dancing from some of the guys. "Mariah Beason and Devon Watson." Not that it mattered. I'm sure I'd have a great time with whoever I got. It's a performing arts school! Everyone here _wants_ to dance. That's what's important. "Julia Brennen and Alex Garcia." ...right?

"_Amelia Davenport and Cole Brookstone._"

I peeked out of the crowd only to meet eyes with a pair I'd never seen before. He had messy black hair, dark green eyes, and an uncertain expression playing across his features. We both stepped out of line and walked to the side. I glanced over at him. He seemed nervous.

"It was Cole, right?" I whispered. He seemed caught off guard.

"Yeah. And Amelia?"

I smiled and nodded. "I haven't seen you before."

"I'm usually towards the back," he shrugged.

"What's your emphasis?"

"I'm still undeclared. You?"

"Ensemble dance," I smiled.

"Well, that's good," He smirked. "At least one of us will know what we're doing in this class."

I chuckled, trying to stay quiet as Mrs. Haley continued to read names. His sudden confidence seemed to come out of nowhere. "You more of a singer then?" I asked.

"I'm…" he trailed off. "I'm here. Let's just start with that." He brushed it off playfully.

"So, if you're not a singer, and you're not a dancer…"

"Well," He cut me off, both of us laughing a bit. "I mean, I _do_ sing, and I _do_ dance. I've been singing and dancing since I was little. I just… if I had to describe myself, singer and dancer would not be the words I would use."

"What words _would_ you use?"

He paused for a moment, thinking it over, as if it were the first time he had considered the question. "Well... I really like hiking, mountain biking, skiing-"

"So, you're an adrenaline junkie." I cut him off.

He laughed. "Yeah. Sure, let's go with that. Adrenaline junkie." He repeated it, smiling at the thought.

"So, what got you into performance?"

"My dad," he smiled. "He has crazy-person performer blood. He's been with the same quartet for years, he's won the Blade Cup a few times, he's-"

"The Blade Cup?!" I stopped him. "Really?"

"Yeah, you follow it?"

"Not closely or anything," I shrugged. "But that's really cool. The Blade Cup is a real performer's competition. I mean, I know it's pretty niche, but it's a sizable award."

"What do your parents do?"

"Well," I hesitated. "They're both dancers, but they're in education. They um… they mainly work with really young kids," I waved it off.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked, obviously reading my tone.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "A lot of people here come from pretty elite families, so when you go up to them and say, 'my parents work with toddlers' you get some weird looks."

"Well, I think it's awesome." He assured me. "Getting kids involved in dance is such a wholesome thing to do with your life." Cole was honestly the first person on campus I had spoken to that wasn't put off by my parents. Just the tone with which he said 'wholesome' made me much happier than it had any right to. "Is that what you want to do?"

"I love my parents, but there's no way I could do what they do. I'm headed straight for Ninjago City," I smiled. "I'm gonna be on Broadway someday if it kills me."

"Well, you've certainly got your priorities in line," he smiled.

"Alright class!" Mrs. Haley broke our conversation. "Everyone has their partner. Most of you have had a minute to chat. Hopefully, you don't totally hate each other just yet. Let's get to dancing, shall we? Can we start with just a basic waltz?" Music began to play throughout the studio as Cole took my hands, and we started moving.

"For what it's worth, I don't totally hate you," I joked.

"Dare I say, things seem to be going pretty well?"

I smiled, a warm feeling filling me as we danced together.

"Look, I don't know what your schedule is like, but if you're free after this, we should totally do something together. Of course, if you have class, or are meeting up with friends or what not-"

He laughed. "Oh, I don't really have friends here."

I smiled. "That makes two of us then."

* * *

I hadn't thought too much about it. It all seemed like such a distant thing until the moment we arrived. When I finally pulled up the parking brake, I realized how fast my heart was beating. Why was I so nervous? I don't get nervous about these things. I never did. But here I was, unconsciously holding my breath at the idea of approaching the front door.

"You said she was apartment 14?" Jay asked me, looking out the window.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Should be on the right here somewhere."

"How do we go about this? Should we all go to the door? Would that be overwhelming for her?" Pixal asked from the back. "Do you want to go by yourself first?"

"No! No, she'll be fine," I shook my head. "It'll be fine. It's probably better, actually, if there's more people. Just so there are no surprises or anything… right?" I glanced back at Pixal. Her cloaked disguise caught me a bit off guard for about the fifth time this trip. I was never going to get used to seeing her with normal skin.

"You know her best." Pixal crossed her arms in defiance of my indecisiveness.

"We'll all go up together. But leave your stuff here, we don't want to seem pushy or anything."

"You seem pretty nervous," Jay turned to face me.

"Let's just do this," I sighed, opening the door to escape his comment. My teammates followed as I locked the car and started over to apartment 14. "You guys should know, she's…" I paused for a moment trying to find the words. "...a lot. She's a total performer, and she's high energy, and she's very touchy. Don't ask her about any Broadway show unless you want your ear talked off about it. In fact, the less you mention musical theater, the better off you'll probably be." As we reached the top step, I turned around to face them. "And she has this pet peeve about brushing your teeth while on your phone so-"

"Cole," Pixal stopped me. "I think we'll be alright. Okay?"

"Right…" I sighed, turning back around to face the door. I took a deep breath, knocking before I freaked myself out too much. A moment passed without any trace of movement behind the door.

"What if she's not here? What do we do then? What if-"

"Dude, it's been like two seconds, chill out," Jay nagged me.

And before I could get a chance to think about it, there she was, standing on the other side of the door, staring back at me.

She looked different.

But she hadn't changed.

Her hair was put up in its usual messy bun, and she wore a loose shirt hanging just off her shoulders over a pair of yoga pants. Her bangs hung just above her emerald eyes, almost in a forgotten attempt to cover them. But you couldn't hide those eyes. They were so green. So rich, so vibrant.

Exactly like I remembered.

And suddenly, I wasn't nervous anymore.

"Hi," I smiled.

She looked at me, still stunned.

"... Cole?"

"I hope we're not interrupting anything."

"What are you doing here? Why…" She looked behind me, seeing that I wasn't alone. "Oh my gosh! Come in. You guys are probably on a mission, and I'm just letting you stand out in the open!" She opened the door wider, stepping back into her house. "Come in, come in!" She waved us in, promptly closing the door behind us. "What are you doing _here_? Do you need something from me, is there something wrong? Did _I_ do something wrong? Am I in trouble? I'm sorry," she shook her head. "I should just let you talk. Why are you here?"

"The team's safety is at risk. We needed a few safe-houses to stay at for a few days, and Cole recommended you as a trustworthy possibility," Pixal explained.

Amelia glanced over at me again, her mind obviously still a bit overloaded at the moment. "Wow. Okay." She sighed.

"It would likely only be a few days," Jay jumped in. "And you wouldn't have to do anything, but you should know that us staying with you might attract some danger."

Amelia stood, her eyes glazed over as she stared at the ground, her arms crossed and biting her lip. She was thinking. The room was quiet for a moment as she processed the information, but her head soon popped back up with a smile, energy entering her body again.

"No, this is great! This actually works out really well! My roommate just moved out a week ago, so I've got the whole apartment to myself, and a spare bed, and room on the couch, loads of spare blankets and such. Plus, I've got the week off. It really shouldn't be a problem! Do you guys want anything to drink? I just put on some tea-" Amelia's head shot over to the kitchen.

"I think we're alright," Pixal stopped her, pulling back her attention.

"I'm such a terrible hostess!" Amelia laughed. "I don't even know your names! I mean, I really should. But I don't really watch the news much, it's um…" her eyes glanced over at me for a moment before returning to Pixal. "It can be difficult for me… But maybe I can remember." She turned to Jay, looking at him for a second. "You're the blue one, that's… lightning powers, right?"

"That's me," he nodded.

"Hold on, I know this," She bounced on her heels. "It starts with a J, right?"

"It _is_ Jay."

"Oh!" She laughed. "That's right! Jay! And then..." She then turned to Pixal, clearly more stumped than before. "Actually, I'm not sure I recognize you."

"Maybe this will help," Pixal deactivated her cloak as Amelia jumped in surprise.

"Ah! You're Samurai X!"

"But you can call me Pixal," She extended a hand, Amelia quickly taking it.

"That's so cool! I can already tell we're going to get along." She turned to me, a soft smile gracing her face. "...and I know you."

"I know you." I smiled back; our eyes now locked on each other.

"Well, I'm going to get our stuff from the car." Jay announced, heading towards the door.

"Oh, yeah," Amelia laughed. "I guess you guys would have stuff. Bring it in and we'll figure out where I'm putting you all."

"Jay," Pixal called after him as he exited. "You don't-" but she was cut off as the door closed. "Have keys…" she sighed. I grabbed the keys from my pocket, tossing them to her as she followed him out. "Thanks."

As the door closed, I felt arms surround me and a squeak in my ear.

"It's so good to see you! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too," I chuckled as she broke from me.

"I can't believe you're a ninja!" She took my hands, still giddy. "I mean, I can. You've been a ninja for years now. But it's different when you're right in front of me!"

"And you totally made it to Ninjago City and everything!"

"I always told you I would," She hit me on the shoulder.

"Are you, like… on Broadway and stuff?"

"Soon! I've got an understudy position in an off-Broadway show, but we're working on moving over sometime next year."

"That's so awesome! I can't believe you actually made it! I mean…" we both chuckled for a moment. "I can. It's you. But it's just so surreal now that you're actually doing it."

"Oh!" her eyes popped, letting go of me. "I really should go get that tea from the stove before it boils over!" She started towards the kitchen as I followed her, laughing. "What's so funny?" She asked, moving her pot off the burner.

"Nothing. It's just… you're just as scatterbrained as I remember."

She turned off the stove, leaning against the counter and taking my hands again. "I really _did_ miss you, you know. It was never the same after you left."

"I missed you too." I gripped her hands a bit tighter, our arms swinging to some silent beat running through us both.

"But look at you! You have friends now and everything!" She teased, letting go of me and turning back to her teapot. "Now _that's_ something I never thought I'd see." She poured herself a cup as we both chuckled.

"They're great. I think you'll really like them."

"Oh, we're definitely gonna have some fun." She turned back around, gingerly holding the warm mug between her hands. "We're having a party tonight for sure."

"Doesn't that seem kind of counter-intuitive to the whole safe-house thing?"

"Oh, no." She shook her head. "It's a Friday night. My neighbors would be suspicious if I _didn't_ blast music and order pizza."


	4. Chapter 4: Ice Cream

"I'll take a double scoop of the rocky road." Cole pointed to the tub through the window as Madelyn began scooping.

"In a cone, or a cup?"

"Cup please," He smiled.

"Anything else?" Madelyn asked, handing him his cup over the counter.

"I also need a double scoop of cotton candy in a cup as well please."

I hit Cole on the shoulder as he chuckled. "I can pay for my own ice cream, you know!" I scolded.

"Chill Lia, I have a bunch of extra cash on my student account that I've got to spend by the end of the month," He explained. "I accidentally added an extra 200 dollars to my account instead of 20 dollars, so... I'm definitely going to be hitting up the student shop later this week."

I laughed as Madelyn handed me my cup and moved over to the cash register.

"That'll be $6.50, just go ahead and swipe your student id." Madelyn instructed.

Cole did just that as the receipt started printing. "And that's it! Thanks," she smiled, handing it to him.

"Thanks Maddie!" I smiled as we walked out towards the field.

"You know her?" Cole asked.

"She works there every Wednesday and Friday. Don't you recognize her?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "But I don't know her name!"

"I don't know. I think it's rude not to make an effort," I shrugged as we sat down on the grass. It was a beautiful sunny day outside for being the middle of fall. It was the perfect temperature outside with the sun peeking out just enough to warm the air. I knew perfect weather like this couldn't last long though. "So, you ready for midterms?" I asked, eating my first spoonful of ice cream.

"Midterms," Cole laughed nervously. "Yeah. I have no idea how ready I am, but it's definitely not ready _enough_."

"I'm excited! I mean, in just a few weeks we'll get our rankings! Aren't you excited to see where you fall?"

Cole rolled his eyes, looking down at his ice cream, mixing it around with his spoon. "I don't know. It all seems a little superficial to me. I mean, how can you possibly distill all of someone's talent down into one number? And then they're going to take everyone's number and rank us against each other? Doesn't that just seem needlessly antagonistic?"

"I mean, most schools have grades. That's how grading things works," I shrugged, taking another bite.

"It just doesn't seem right. Singing and dancing and all this stuff is all just so subjective. It shouldn't have such a concrete ranking system attached to it."

"Well… yeah. It's blunt, but that's kind of just how performance arts work. They're competitive, and messy and… harsh."

Cole seemed distant. He looked at me for a moment, pensive. "I don't know. I guess it's just not really for me."

"What do you mean _not really for you_?" I pressed.

"It's kind of hard to explain," he sighed. "But it's like… recently, I've been feeling more and more like instead of going to school here, I'm just being trapped here, you know?"

I studied him. He was being honest, but I didn't exactly know what to make of it. "Well, I know classes can be tough, but everyone knows first year is the hardest. Things will ease up soon. I mean, you might _feel_ like you want to leave, but it's not like you're actually considering it, right?"

He paused for a moment, looking out at the skyline. "...maybe. I mean, the more I stay here, the more I feel like I just don't belong. Like I can't fit into the mold that everyone wants from me."

"Cole, you're a great dancer! If you're worried about living up to people's expectations, don't be-"

"It's not that." he shook his head. "I just don't fit in the system. I can't do this forever. I can't _live_ like this."

I set my ice cream down on the grass, thinking for a moment. "Look, I know this kind of stuff is a lot of work. And I get that it comes easier to me than it does for a lot of people, but you shouldn't throw away your chance just because it gets hard. I mean, why did you come here in the first place unless you really wanted something out of it, right?"

Cole's head hung low as he picked at the grass.

"I… didn't choose to come here.

_My dad did."_

* * *

_"Oh! We're halfway there! Oh! Livin' on a prayer!"_

They both sounded absolutely terrible at this point in the song, but the energy in the room was undeniable. Lia had pulled out all her snacks, moved the furniture, dug up her mini disco ball, and had started blasting music. She and Jay and were currently caught in an intense impromptu Karaoke battle, Jay singing into the ice cream scooper while Lia had chosen the tv remote as her microphone of choice.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Jay screamed out, "Air guitar solo!"

"Shred it guys!" I called out, egging them on as they flailed around in the middle of the room.

"Put your heart into it, Jay!" Pixal mocked him. "She's wiping the floor with you!"

Pix and I both laughed as the last set of choruses came around.

"You really weren't kidding, she's _extremely_ high energy." She looked over at me, smiling.

"Yeah, she was a good warm up for dealing with Jay," I joked, both of us laughing again.

_"Take my hand! We'll make it, I swear!"_ They were singing into each other's faces at this point, more screaming than singing. _"Oh! Living on a prayer!"_

Both of them pumped their fists in the air as the song faded out, Pix and I both cheering them as they bowed.

"It's such a good song!" Jay raved.

"It's _such_ a good song!" Lia tossed the remote onto the couch in the corner, taking a few heavy breaths.

"Sorry about that Cole, I had a bit of a point to prove," Jay boasted, walking over to the snack table. "Which flavor did you want?" He looked down at the various tubs of ice cream.

"You know what, I don't even think I want ice cream anymore," I shrugged.

"Well, I want some mint chip!" Lia called to him, running over. "I am overheating big time!" She smiled.

"I know, right?" Jay agreed, dishing some up for her, my eyes drifting.

"You rocked it up there."

"I've done my fair share of lip sync battles, I know how to work a good song," Jay smirked, handing her the bowl he had scooped.

My eyes had been drawn to the neat orange stone hung around Lia's neck, shining in the dancing light of the disco ball. "Is that the necklace?" I asked.

"Oh! Yeah," She lifted it off her neck. "I usually only wear it for good luck, like when I'm auditioning for stuff or what not, but I thought since you're here it'd be appropriate."

"I didn't even think you'd have it still," I chuckled.

"What's this all about?" Pix asked.

"Oh nothing," Lia shrugged. "Cole just got me this necklace at the end of first semester."

Pixal leaned over, looking at it. "It's a beautiful piece of sunstone," she admired.

"It's kind of a long story," I waved it off, glancing back at Lia, now enjoying her ice cream.

"Hold on," Jay interrupted, pointing at the other end of the room. "Is that a guitar? Do you play guitar?!"

"Yeah, I play guitar," She smiled. "I know most of the basics. Guitar, Piano, Violin, I'm learning how to play the flute. I'll have to play for you sometime, you know, when my voice isn't so hacked up from song battling you," She winked.

"As in like… play and _sing_?" Jay asked. "You sing too?! As in like, real, legit singing?"

Lia burst out laughing, leaning on my shoulder. "Cole, this idiot wants to know if a Marty Oppenheimer Alumni can sing! What do you think?!"

"Yes, she can sing," I rolled my eyes at Jay.

"Does that mean you can sing too?" Jay nudged me.

"Oh, you've never heard him sing?" Lia smiled, turning to me, wide eyed.

"I _can_ sing, but that doesn't mean that I _do_. Not anymore anyways," I stopped them.

The music began to switch as Lia took my hand. "That's okay, Cole's always been much more of a dancer." She smirked. "Come on, this song is great for swing dance!"

"You know full well, I dropped out right before the swing dance unit," I put my hands up in surrender.

"I don't know, that sounds like quite a slim excuse to me," Pixal teased.

"Oh, so you think you're better than me?" I challenged her.

"I'm a droid, you don't think I can't follow rhythms and memorize a complex series of steps?"

Lia placed down her ice cream bowl and turned triumphantly towards Pixal. "Would you like to dance?"

"Of course!" Pixal smiled in my face as they moved back out towards the center of the room.

"Aw man! She slammed you!" Jay clung to my shoulder, jumping up and down.

They took the floor, moving in unison as the chorus kicked in.

_I knew I was in for a ride as we_

_Swing to the sound_

_Our feet tap-tappin' and our heartbeats beatin' _

"Dude, you're not recovering from this," Jay shook his head, watching as they spun around each other to the beat of the music.

"Yeah, Pix sure wasn't bluffing."

They had some great synergy too. So concentrated on the moves they were making, anticipating what the other would do next. It had been a while since I'd seen Lia dance. I had forgotten how happy it made her. It breathed life into her in a way nothing else ever quite did. Like dancing was the one thing keeping her alive, like doing anything else would just be unnatural. The way her stray hairs would fly away in the air as she spun, the way her nose would scrunch up when she smiled. Those moments when she felt so in the rhythm that she'd just close her eyes. It was all wrapping in this warm familiar comfort that I had lost to the back of my mind to years now.

_Spin 'round and 'round_

_We got lost in the rhythm, the lights, and the crowd_

"You're so good!" Lia's excitement caught me out of my daze. Her arms were wrapped around Pixal, who was a bit unsure of what to do.

"You're quite talented yourself."

"See, that's how you dance!" She broke away from Pix, pointing at me. "You just forget how to move your feet after all these years, or what?"

"I've kinda been focused on other things," I rolled my eyes.

"That's so cool! How did you do that?" Jay marveled at them both. "It looked so choreographed and everything!"

"It just takes practice," Lia hit him in the shoulder. "It's really not that hard. It's first year stuff."

"I could teach you the basics if you wanted," Pixal chimed in.

"Hell yes! Let's do it!" Jay swung around me, back to the middle of the floor, Pixal following him. I leaned back on the snack table watching them. She took his hands, carefully guiding him through some basic motions, both of their eyes glued to their feet. I could feel a smile spread across my face watching Jay fumble at Pixal's simple instructions.

"Pix is a great dancer! I was actually really surprised." Lia sat next to me, a half empty glass of water in her hands.

"You know, if I'm being honest, it was kinda weird seeing you dance with someone else," I chuckled.

"Yeah," She sighed, hanging her head a bit. "I guess it would be." Her fingers fiddled with the rim of the glass. I could tell something was off.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked, trying to keep the tone light.

She looked up, her eyes distant. "Cole, I've been dancing without you for five years now." She glanced over at me, gauging my reaction.

"Well…" I hesitated. "Yeah, that's a good thing, right? I wasn't supposed to be a dancer, staying would have just been a mistake. We both found our calling in life! That's great!"

She looked at me with a blank stare. "...You don't get it, do you?"

I looked at her a moment, trying to read what the answer was that she wanted. "Get… What? I mean, what happened, happened. Sure, it sucked to leave you behind, but no one got hurt. I'm back now, what's the big problem?"

She looked at me for a moment, taking a deep breath. She placed her glass down on the table behind her, her eyes glazing over again as she looked at the floor.

She was thinking.

After a long moment, she closed her eyes, standing up.

"I think I'm gonna head to bed." She started towards the back hall as I stood up, trailing her.

"Lia, is everything okay?"

"Cole, please, I can't do this right now." She sighed as she continued moving.

"Amelia, talk to me, please. What's wrong?" I pleaded with her.

I was cut off as she reached her room, shutting the door on me, leaving me a little disoriented on the other side.

"Everything okay back here?" Jay asked, peaking back into the hall.

I turned to look at him, still wondering what exactly had just happened.

"I… don't know."


	5. Chapter 5: With You

"It's so quiet," I whispered, soaking in the midnight air and the feeling of the grass against my back. "I wish it was like this more often."

"Yeah, I wish we had three-day weekends every week," Cole chuckled.

"That's not what I meant," I rolled my eyes. "It's just nice with campus so empty. I swear, the stars seem so much prettier when it's quiet."

"Yeah," he sighed. "My mom and I used to go stargazing when I was little. She'd tell me all these stories about the constellations… I don't really remember much of them, I just remember how happy it made me, you know?"

My head shifted in the grass as I picked at the blades at my fingertips. "I bet you could see a lot more stars outside of the city."

"Tons of them," I could hear the smile on his lips. "Kind of why we had to stop. Our neighborhood went through a huge boom. There's a lot more light pollution now."

"That sucks," I sighed. "Everything kinda sucks now, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

I thought for a moment. "I don't know. Everything just seemed so much easier when we were little. No grades or responsibilities or friend drama that blows up in your face."

"Rough day?"

I sighed. "It's just been one of those weeks. Everything's fallen through or been delayed or ended up with me botching it. Turns out Selena just straight up hates me."

"I thought you two were friends."

"Me too," I mumbled. "I shouldn't be surprised though. It's always been this way. Unfortunately, just because you're friendly doesn't mean you have friends."

"Well, I'm still your friend." He took my hand, both of us finally glancing over at each other.

"...Thanks."

"Is there something else, or-"

"No," I shook my head. "Look, none of this is really important, okay?"

"You sure it's not?"

"I'm sure."

He looked at me a moment, still deciding whether or not to believe me. "Well, regardless, I think I have something to make your week better." He let go of my hand, sitting up and reaching for his backpack.

I rolled onto my side, watching him as he struggled for a moment with the zipper. "What are you-?"

"Just hold on a sec, I'm working on it."

I sat up, running my fingers through my hair. "You need help?"

"I got it!" he smiled, the backpack opening. "I think it was caught on the plastic."

From inside he pulled out a singularly wrapped pale pink rose, a small blue ribbon tied around the center.

"What's this?"

"Lia, will you go to the Winter Formal with me?" He presented the flower to me, a giddy smile crossing my lips as a flood of emotions trickled through me, one after another. "Cole!" I accepted the rose, chuckling a bit. "This isn't fair. You know I have to say yes."

"I mean, not_ necessarily_," he contended.

"It's ten percent of our final grade!"

"Exactly! Theoretically you could ditch and still get an A!"

We both laughed, as I twirled the flower around in my fingertips.

"Even so, what was this for?"

"Well, we don't have homecoming or prom or anything," he explained. "So, I kind of thought we could… make a day of it, you know? Dress up all fancy and have a matching color scheme and all that. We could even do dinner if you wanted."

"That would be so fun!" I almost jumped. "But I hate eating in formal wear. Maybe we could eat before we're dressed?"

"And then what? Get ready _together_ or…"

"Well, I don't exactly have a girl group to get ready with anymore," I shrugged. "Is that weird? Would that be weird?"

"No, I'm sure I'd be fun!" He assured me. "Anything with you usually is."

"I like this two-person prom thing! It might end up better than the real thing."

"Good thing about only having two people," Cole leaned back. "Is that we already know who's gonna be Prom King and Queen."

I laughed. "What? We gonna have a vote too? I vote for you-"

"And I vote for you," he nodded, stringing me in further.

"And then we get to make ourselves some stupid paper crowns to parade around in."

"No, no. We're the prom planning committee too!" He pressed. "We can get whatever kind of crowns we want! Plastic dollar store crowns, flower crowns, we could cut them out of the backs of cereal boxes. Hell, we could even spring for some decorative rhinestones if we want!"

"Hold on," I stopped him, both of us laughing uncontrollably at this point. "If we are the planning committee, but we're also the only ones voting in the election, does that mean that the election is rigged?"

Cole playfully held out his arm. "Come my Queen! We shall rule over our corrupt empire with an iron fist!"

I took his hand, lifting my posture. "May our enemies be crushed betwixt our hands!"

Our laughter died out after a moment, my eyes turning again to the rose.

"Well, you never actually answered my question," Cole lamented.

I lifted my eyes to his, the pure perfect bliss of the moment radiating throughout my bones as we sat, alone, under the stars, enveloped in a gentle breeze, a single rose in my hand, a glowing smile on both our lips.

"Yes, Cole. I would love to go to the Winter Formal with you."

* * *

I trudged into the kitchen, my mind still hazy, the smell of bacon filling the air. "Good morning!" Jay's voice surfaced from the stove. "Just making some breakfast."

"Maybe don't burn it," Pixal suggested, turning his eyes to his pan.

"I'm sure they're fine. I like them a little extra crispy anyway." Jay removed the pan, turning off the heat, carefully sliding the contents onto a plate. Despite my personal feeling of utter fatigue and drowsiness, Jay seemed remarkably well rested- dressed and awake and seemingly more put together than usual.

"What's got you so chipper?"

"I don't know," he mused, placing down his cookware. "I think I might have caught the positivity bug from Amelia."

My eyes slid over to Pixal, in full gear, her demeanor much less bursting of sunshine but still annoyingly more composed than my own. "Any movement last night?" I asked.

"No sign that we've been detected from my patrol last night." She shook her head.

"Well, at least that's good." I sat down at one of the bar stools, rubbing my eyes, still a bit distracted. "Is Amelia up yet?"

"I haven't seen her since last night," Pixal shrugged.

"What exactly happened?" Jay added. "I didn't even see her leave."

"I don't know," I sighed. "I couldn't sleep, I was up all night thinking about it. I don't know what I did or said or what ticked her off, but she's pissed."

"What were you even talking about?" Jay asked.

"It was just after she and Pix were dancing. I told her it was weird to see her dancing with someone else, and suddenly she got all sensitive about it."

"You ever think she just… misses dancing with you?" Pixal offered. "What exactly was your relationship like when you left, anyway?"

"Lia and I were…" My lips froze in indecision for a moment. "Look, it was complicated. We were close. But I had a lot of personal stuff going on at the time, so I had to keep some distance and…" I sighed, their faces showing only suspicion. "I don't really know what we were."

"Sounds like a recipe for some passive aggressive frustration to me," Jay concluded.

"She just gets this way sometimes," I argued. "She'll bottle things up and then get all fussy when you can't read her mind about it. Even if it has nothing to do with you, even if you're trying to make things better, she just shuts down. It would happen all the time back at Marty's. She'd get a bad grade and have trouble with a new dance and then suddenly she'd just spiral and there's nothing you can do about it. It's so frustrating!"

"Maybe you just weren't communicating with her properly," Jay offered. "I mean, you were kind of… _emotionally occupied_ at the time."

"I don't know. I guess that's possible," I sighed. "I just hope that this time it's something I can fix." I held my head in my hands, staring ahead at the back wall, all the factors still very much spinning as I tried to fit everything together.

"Good morning Amelia," Pixal broke my train of thought. "How did you sleep?"

Amelia looked _very_ worn. She still wore her pajamas, her eyes tired, and her face missing her typical bright smile. Maybe Jay hadn't caught the positivity bug from her as much as stolen it.

"Fine," she shrugged. She made her way to the fridge, pulling a protein shake out from the back, shaking it up. "What are your plans for today?"

"We didn't exactly have any," I told her.

Her eyes landed on me, staring for a moment. "Well, I have some stuff I need to get done, so..."

"Well, you should get it done," I told her.

"Unless there's anything you need me for-"

"Look, do you want to talk about it?" I stopped her, standing up.

"Cole," Pixal cautioned me. "This is not the time to-"

"I don't know. You don't seem to want to." Lia put down her drink, leaning over the counter.

"What on earth gave you that impression?!"

"I kind of thought you might want to bring it up yourself, you know, as a half decent person, but you don't seem to know what the problem_ is_."

"Yeah, I don't! What did I do?!"

"You abandoned me Cole! You knew full well that you were my only friend at that school, and you left."

"You _know_ why I left! I didn't really have any other options!"

"Woah! Okay," Pixal cut in. "Let's all calm down for a moment."

"No, I get that." Lia continued. "But that's not the part you screwed up. You told me you were leaving the _day of,_ with _no notice_, and left me crying on the studio floor!"

"That was-"

"Hold on guys. How about we just talk over some nice bacon and eggs?" Jay offered. "That sounds nice, right?"

"Thing is," Amelia ignored him. "Even_ that_ would have been fine. But you didn't write me, you didn't call, you didn't even _try_ to make contact! You _obviously_ have a way of locating me!"

"The only reason I could find you now is because of my responsibilities as a ninja!"

"Yeah, and for those years before you were one, I thought you were dead!" I could see tears beginning to poke into the corners of her eyes. "I had to find out from a news report in the middle of a city-wide crisis that you were still alive and had just been ignoring me! And hey, you know what? I could have just shrugged that off, you had moved on, you didn't really care about me anymore, it happens. I get that. But then you show up at my doorstep after _five years_, acting all buddy-buddy like nothing happened! Like you didn't see any problem in the fact that the reason you approached me in the first place is that no one would ever think to associate us! Doesn't that seem just a little messed up to you?! That I'm such a cliff note in your life that you didn't think to tell your friends about me until your life depended on it?"

"Hey, let's not drag us into this-" Jay chuckled nervously.

"No, she has a point." Pixal sighed, obviously a bit bitter herself at this point.

"Look, I get it okay," I conceded. "I didn't leave very gracefully, but it's not like I didn't care about you or-"

"No, Cole, you don't care," Amelia stopped me. "Not enough. No one who leaves so easily ever does. You didn't care about what happened to me! You were only worried about yourself! Just like my brother!"

"Your brother?" Amelia didn't have a brother. Amelia didn't have _any_ siblings. She was an only child. What was this about her brother?

"And I didn't want much." She brushed past it. "I_ just _needed an apology. You didn't think one of those would be in order? Just a 'Hey, sorry for abandoning you the day before the partner test, that was kind of a dick move.' or maybe a 'Sorry for not talking to you for five years! You were probably pretty worried about me, huh?' or maybe 'Hey, Lia, sorry for kissing you right before I left forever! That probably left you with a boatload of mixed emotions for you to sort through!"

"You did what?!" Jay's voice chimed from behind me.

"You ever stop to think that this stuff probably hurt me just as much as it hurt you?" I shot back. "Maybe I had a lot of really mixed emotions to begin with! Maybe saying goodbye was absolutely terrifying! Maybe it took every bit of will power I had to resist the urge to ask you to come with me when-"

"You wanted me to come with you?" Her tone had suddenly softened, her voice almost at a whisper. Her eyes had filled with a shocked sort of hope. I could feel my heart slow as she looked at me, this meaningless piece of history being some sort of final piece she had been looking for and finding it had caught her into this instantaneous daze. And as I looked at her, she caught me in it too- nothing else really seemed to matter at that point.

"Well, I… yeah." I sighed, stumbling over my words as our eyes remained locked.

"Why didn't you-"

"I couldn't ask you to leave. You were so at home there. I didn't want to pressure you to leave it behind." My reasonings resurfaced to my mind in an instant. "Besides, asking would have just gotten my hopes up. You never would have come anyway-"

"Everyone stop for a minute," Pixal interjected, moving between us.

"No, I'm not-!"

"Shush!" Pix held a finger up to me as she looked towards the front door. "Did anyone else hear that?"

We all stopped to listen. There were voices on the other side of the door. _A lot_ of voices.

"You weren't expecting anyone, were you?" Jay asked.

"Not today," Amelia shook her head.

Before any of us could respond, there was a loud crash.

They were trying to break in.

"Lia, get to your room, now!" I ordered her.

I could see the panic filling her eyes, still locked on the front door. This wasn't supposed to happen. This is why we came here in the first place. She wasn't supposed to be mixed up in all this. But here she was. She nodded, running off, the banging at the door now a continuous pattern.

"Head's up!" Pix tossed me a sword as one final hit broke the door down, nothing but familiar faces on the other side.

"Knock, knock!" Ultra Violet's laughter filled the air as she moved forward. "Look at the little ninja, hiding like roaches in the cracks of Ninjago City!"

"Could you not have waited until after we had breakfast?" Jay complained, pulling out his nunchucks. "The eggs will be cold by the time we're done with this!"

Ultra Violet just smirked, standing with her arms crossed, her army of men behind her, ready to unleash chaos.

_"Find the green one."_

As the floodgates opened, we all rushed forward, nothing but a clash of fists and metal proceeding.

"He's not here!" Pixal warned her.

"You'll forgive me for not believing you," She chuckled in return, countering her attacks. "It's a small enough apartment. I'm sure we'll find everyone who is."

"It's just us! There's no one else here!" I screamed out at her, blocking a swing from one of her goons.

"We'll see about that, won't we?" There was a loud crash from behind me as Jay fell to the ground. I knocked my attacker down as I turned to see him just miss a knife to the shoulder. I rushed over, pining his attacker to the ground as he sat up.

"You okay?"

"Tis but a scratch," He smiled, standing up again, brushing off the new tear in his uniform. "But where's Ultra?"

We both glanced around the room, now mostly under control, the mastermind now nowhere to be seen. It was only a second later before we got our answer. A sharp scream came from down the hall, all attention diverting in its direction as I began to panic.

"Lia!"

My legs took me to her before I could begin to process it, but by the time I got there it was already too late. Ultra Violet stood over Lia's body, cornered and shaking and covered in blood.

"Now look what happens when we lie, huh?" her head turned to me, a sick smile gracing her face as I felt my blood begin to boil. "Oh, what to do, what to do?"

I lunged forward, nothing but pure rage moving me as my sword pinned her to the wall. "You start _praying_ she's okay, that's what."

"Pix, call an ambulance!" Jay's voice came from the doorway

"You're going to leave. Now," I ordered her.

"Or what?"

I brought the blade closer to her neck, leaning in. _"Or I kill you."_

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me, still proud of what she'd done. "Fall back! He's not here!" She ordered. I could hear the proceeding shuffle in the next room. I dropped my sword, letting her go, my attention immediately turning back to Amelia. The gash ran down the side of her neck, and onto her shoulder, though at this point it was hard to tell.

The blood.

There was so. Much. blood.

It pooled on the carpet and on her clothing, scattering her arms and hands as it continued to stream out. Her eyes were stuck on the doorway, her body paralyzed as she shivered, tears falling silently in an endless flow down her cheeks.

I kneeled in front of her, quickly taking her hand, looking for her to respond.

"It looks a lot worse than it is," Jay concluded, covering the wound, and beginning to apply pressure. "But she's losing a lot of blood, fast."

My eyes stayed on hers, her hand now desperately clenching mine, struggling to get a grip from the blood covering them both.

"It'll be okay. We're here. I'm with you."

My words were shaky, my pulse still racing as I watched her, guilt flowing over me in waves; huge, violent waves threatening to drown me. I was almost certain I had stopped breathing all together. I could see her lips trembling as she tried to speak.

"It… It hurts."

My head sunk as I brought her hand closer, the water finally leaving my eyes.

"I know. I'm sorry.

_I'm so sorry."_


End file.
